Louisiana’s Struggling Readers Receive Extra Support from Legislature

Statement by Lily Landry, ExcelinEd in Action Senior Legislative Associate, on unanimous action by the Louisiana Legislature to create the Steve Carter Literacy Program and support struggling readers with Reading Scholarship Accounts.

“It is critical every student develops the ability to read, and far too many students are falling behind, which will impact their personal and academic growth for the rest of their lives. Reading Scholarship Accounts give parents of struggling readers access to supplemental literacy services that can support their child’s growth and progress.

“ExcelinEd in Action applauds Representative Scott McKnight, the Louisiana Department of Education and the Louisiana Federation for Children for this important work on behalf of Louisiana’s young learners.”

House Bill 85, sponsored by Representative Scott McKnight, creates the Steve Carter Literacy Program:

• The program offers parents of struggling readers access to an annual $1,000 Reading Scholarship Account, a type of educational savings account that can be used to pay for tuition and fees related to part-time tutoring, summer and after-school literacy programs, instructional materials and more.
• The scholarship accounts will be available to public school students in grades K-5 who have reading difficulties – an estimated 160,000 students. According to the Nation’s Report Card, only one out of four of Louisiana’s fourth graders are reading on grade level.
• The program is modeled after a similar program in Florida serving up to 15,000 K-3 students that began in 2018 and is the first of its kind in the country.

The bill now heads to Governor John Bel Edwards for his signature.